Before you can share FileMaker Pro Advanced database files, it's important to prepare the files for hosting. The steps below provide an overview of the process.
1. Edit the accounts and privileges sets that clients will use for shared access. See Editing accounts and privilege sets.
2. Upload the database files to FileMaker Server. See Uploading database files using FileMaker Pro Advanced.
3. Verify the status of your files on the Databases page, and verify that the files are available to FileMaker clients. See Verifying databases are available to FileMaker clients.
•FileMaker Server 18 supports these clients: FileMaker Pro version 16; FileMaker Pro Advanced versions 16, 17, and 18; and FileMaker Go versions 16, 17, and 18. Note that clients running versions 16 and 17 of FileMaker Pro, FileMaker Pro Advanced, and FileMaker Go cannot use FileMaker Pro 18 Advanced features.
•Convert files created in FileMaker Pro 11 Advanced, FileMaker Pro 11, and earlier (FP7 files) to the FileMaker Pro 12 format (FMP12 files). See FileMaker Pro Advanced Help.
•If a hosted database is designed to access data from an external SQL data source, you must set up the same ODBC data source name (DSN) on the FileMaker Server master machine as was set up on the machine running FileMaker Pro Advanced when the database was created. See Accessing external ODBC data sources.
•If a hosted database uses plug-in files or you want to allow the Install Plug-In File script step to update server-side plug-in files, then you need to set the Server Plug-Ins settings. See Managing plug-ins.
•You cannot use FileMaker Pro Advanced peer-to-peer database hosting on a FileMaker Server machine.
•As FileMaker Server opens files that were not closed properly, FileMaker Server performs a consistency check on each file and logs the result of the check in the event log. See Event log.